Tooth brush



March 15, 1938. w. 1 1. mm 2,111,238

1 TOOTH BRUSH Filed July 5, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet J ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 15, 1938 UNITED STATES TOOTH BRUSH William H. Doyle,

White Plains, N. Y.

Application July 3, 1935, Serial No. 29,703

3 Claims.

This invention relates to tooth brushes and is herein disclosed asembodied in a structure having a metal or celluloid or other stiffhandle and a rubber brush head or cleaning surface.

The ordinary bristle tooth brush, if properly designed, is a fairlyeffective cleaner of teeth when new and sterile, but after being usedonce it becomes a breeding place for germs. Moreover, after considerableuse it becomes soft, bristles often wear short, others fall out, and thebrush is both inefficient and unhygienic.

The bristle toothbrush is too costly to throw away after being used onlyonce, is almost always slightly irregular when new, and sometimes shedsbristles at first, so that it is more agreeable to clean the teeth witha slightly worn tooth brush, even though more unhygienic.

According to the present invention these and other objections areovercome by building a brush out of a handle and a detachable headhaving a continuous elastic body and a head which may be rubber faced,the facing being preferably provided with flexible fins and. being solow in cost that the facing may economically be used only once and thenthrown away, with the result that a hygienic or sterile head is alwaysavailable at trivial cost.

Moreover, the fins may be so formed that they tend to hold dentifrice attheir bases so that the dentifrice is effectively positioned for toothclean- The head may take any of several forms, and the handle may alsotake any of several forms, one form holding the head by mere frictionand grip of the elastic rubber, another form holding the head by aclamp, preferably so formed that no damp part can separate from the bodypart while the brush is usable.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 shows one form of brush including a separable handle and head.

Figure 2 is a large scale end view of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a section on the line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a section on the line 44 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a view of an extruded tube for forming a series of headfacings of one form.

Figure 5 is a View of a single head facing.

Figure 6 is an end View of another form of brush.

Figure '7 is a view of another form of cleaning member.

Figure 8 is a view of an extruded half-rod for forming a series of headslike that of Figure 5.

Figure 9 is an end view of still another form of brush head.

Figure 10 is a section on the line |lll of Figure 9.

Figure 11 is a view of a holding member.

Figure 12 is a view of the head end of the handle for the head of Figure9.

Figure 13 is an end view of another form of brush head.

Figure 14 is a section on the line |5l5 of Figure 13.

Figure 15 is a view of the handle head.

Figure 16 is a view ofthe head to fit on handle head of Figure 15.

Figure 1'7 is an end View of a brush head of another form.

Figure 18 is a section on the line I9l9 of Figure 17.

Figure 19 is a View of the handle head of Figure 17.

The brush of Figure 1, includes a handle 2i to be grasped, a head Ziiyarubber facing 22 for the latter, including axial pointed fins 23 andaxial rounded risers 2d, the facing 22 being in the form of a ring orbelt lying in a flat depression 25 in the handle head or end post 26.

In the form shown the head 26 of the handle is approximately half roundwith a diameter of onehalf inch cut away one-sixteenth deep to make thedepression 25 on the round front 21 and cut away on the nearly flat back28 to one-eighth inch deep.

The end 29 of the handle is rounded smoothly off, turning to a sharpcurve at the corner 30] to facilitate the pushing of the elastic rubberhead 22 over the end 29 until it seats itself in the depression 25.

The elastic facing 22 is preferably annular and about five-eighths of aninch in diameter from the top of one rounded riser 24 to the top of theopposite riser 24, with a central opening about three-eighths of an inchin diameter. The fins or flappers 23 are shown separated by a cut onethirty-second of an inch deep from the round risers 2t, and rise aboutone thirty-second of an inch above the tops of the risers 2 5.

The depression 25 in which rubber facing fits is shown as slightly overone-fourth inch long axially of the handle.

The end walls of the depression are shown as about one-sixteenth inchthick. The facing 22 fits closely in the depression 25, projecting wellabove the end walls on the rounded or cylindrical face, to about doublethe free height of fin, but only the tops of the fins project above theend walls on the flat back 28.

Thus as the brush is held in the hand and rotated back and forth on itsaxis, the fins 23 sweep over the teeth bending to and from the risers 24and squeezing out from between them any dentifrice which has beenapplied to the head.

In the form shown, which is well adapted for extrusion, the head facingcarries sixteen fins 23 and sixteen risers 24.

The head and brush shown in Figure 6 include a handle 2| and brush head3|, having long fins 23 and short or half-height fins 24 but held to thehandle by a threaded clamp head or end wall 32 screwing into a threadedsocket 33 in the flat end 34 of the handle 2|.

The brush head 3|, as more clearly seen in the view of the extruded halfrod blank of Figure 9, is shown as having a flat back 35 and a threethirty-second inch opening 36 through which the threaded shank 31 of theclamp head 32 passes with a close fit, and nearly centrally of theelastic rubber.

Instead, one of the other heads, a head having a periphery like thatshown in Figure 7, may be used having fins 44 which spring from undercutbases 45 so that the pockets formed by the relatively fiat tops 46 mayhold dentifrice, and may be limber and flexible enough to function asbrush ends one-sixteenth inch long.

The brush head 41 shown in Figure 10 is adapted to fit closely over theslightly tapering triangular post 48 of the handle 2| of Figure 12, forthis purpose being provided with a triangular opening 49 very slightlysmaller than the post 48. To hold the ends of the head 41 of the elasticrubber, the post 48 is of sufficient length to pass through both theupstanding ends 50 of a supporting frame 5|, adapted to closely fit theends of the head 41, and provided with triangular openings 52, 53 in theends 50 fitting closely over the post 48.

The head 54 shown in Figure 14, like the head 41, may have the surfaceshown in Figure 8, and is shown as provided with an opening 55 in itsback which broadens to a wide cavity 56 (about three sixteenths deep) soas to be sprung over the deeply undercut post 51 projecting from thehandle 2| and lying upon a fiat fioor 58 which supports the flanges 59of the elastic rubber on each side of the opening 55. To hold the endsof the head 54, there are provided semicircular Walls 60 at each end ofthe post 51, rising from the floor 58 to closely fit the head. The flooris shown as three-fourths of an inch wide, exactly the width of thehead, but the one-sixteenth inch walls terminate about one-eighth inchshort of the sides of the floor.

The brush head shown in Figure 18 may be identical with the head 54 ofFigure 14, but it abuts against a flat end 6| of the handle 2 I,somewhat smaller than the solid end of the head, and is held on thetriangular post 62 by a rotatable end 63 of the post. In the form shownthe end 63 may be turned on its pivot 64, so that its fiat sides 65 lieexactly in line with the flat sides of the triangular post 62.

Thus the head 54 slips easily over the post 62 in the position of Figure19, but is held on the post when the end 63 is rotated on its pivot 64.Apparently, the most satisfactory rubber composition for the heads isone carrying 43% or more of gum rubber, and, in the form shown, theheads are formed by extruding the rubber composition through dies whichform the fins and risers longitudinally of the tube or rod or half rodas it issues.

The extruded rod or tube is then cut into suitable lengths, thus thewhole process eliminates many of the difficulties and expenses ofmolding separate heads.

Having thus described certain embodiments of the invention, what isclaimed is:

1. A brush head comprising a body the front face of which issubstantially in the form of a segment of a cylinder and the rear faceof which is substantially fiat, and a rubber facing detachably mountedon said body and having flexible fins throughout at least a portion ofits periphery and disposed longitudinally of the facing.

2. A brush head having a facing of a continuous flexible body providedthroughout at least a portion of its periphery with fins extendinglongitudinally of the body and projections intermediate the fins of lessdepth than said fins and also extending longitudinally of the body.

3. The combination of a holder having end Walls with triangularapertures, a handle, having a triangular end, for said holder, and adetachable and replaceable facing of resilient material inserted in theholder upon said handle and confined between end walls of said holder.

WILLIAM H. DOYLE.

